Appalachian State reached 10 wins, at least makin

Appalachian State reached 10 wins, at least makin

One of the best players who never won a major would love a crack at one now. Colin Montgomerie used to say it was harder than ever to win a major because each year it seemed that Tiger Woods won two of them, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson or Vijay Singh won another and that left only one for everyone else. Those days, at least for the moment, are gone. Over the last five years, 18 players have won the last 20 majors, none of them named Woods. And the winner? It could be anybody. Darren Clarke won in his 54th major. Keegan Bradley won in his first. Rory McIlroy won when he was 22. Els won when he was 42. The next chance is the 142nd British Open, which returns next week to Muirfield for the 16th time dating to 1892. Muirfield is reputed to be the fairest of the links courses on the rotation, mainly because there are no tricks and very few blind shots. The course consists of two loops running in opposite directions so that golfers will face the wind in every direction by the end of the day. Muirfield is perhaps more predictable than the others. Not so predictable is finding a player at the top of his game. The search ordinarily would start with Woods, and for good reason. The worlds No. 1 player already has won four times this year, and during a two-month span in the spring, he won three out of four tournaments, the exception a tie for fourth in the Masters. Now, more mystery envelops Woods. He offered limited details at the U.S. Open about an injury in his left elbow that had been bothering him for a month. Woods has not played since he tied for 32nd at the U.S. Open, and he cant guarantee hell be at full strength when he arrives at Muirfield. "I would like to be 100 per cent, but I dont know," he said this month. "It depends on how the body heals. Well see how it goes." McIlroy is one of two players to win multiple majors in the last five years -- Padraig Harrington, with back-to-back major wins in 2008 is the other -- only Boy Wonder has become an afterthought this year. After building a big lead atop the world ranking at the close of 2012, he made a wholesale equipment change at the start of the year and has had only one reasonable chance to win, at the Texas Open. After missing the cut at the Irish Open, he said he felt "lost." Graeme McDowell has three wins, second only to Woods this year, though even he isnt sure what to expect. In his last eight tournaments, McDowell has won three times and missed the cut the other five times. At this rate, theres simply no telling what kind of game hell bring to links along the Firth of Forth. "When its been good, its been really good," McDowell said. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., is the only Canadian in the British Opens field. If there is a trend in this years majors, it is the emergence of quality players whose careers were elevated by winning a Grand Slam event. Most players would have been devastated to lose a four-shot lead with four holes to play as Adam Scott did last year in the British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Scott later said he would have been crushed had he been watching a performance like that from home. Poised as ever, he realized he played the best golf for 68 holes and took that to understand he could do it again. And thats what he did, winning the Masters in a playoff to end more than a half-century of Australian misery at Augusta National. Scott hasnt been Down Under to celebrate since he slipped on that green jacket. In his mind, the year was still young. There was much left to achieve, more majors to win. And there is a feeling of redemption he brings to the Open, even though he seemingly atoned for that collapse by winning his first major. "Im really looking forward to going back and trying to get myself in a similar kind of situation, a chance to win the Open," Scott said. "The hardest thing is going to be curbing the expectations right from the start. But its exciting. Every tournament, I feel, is an opportunity for me now ... to just build on this." Not long after winning the Masters, he sent a text to Justin Rose that "this was our time." Rose lived up to his end of the prediction by winning the U.S. Open with three clutch shots at the end for a two-shot win. They have been friends and colleagues throughout their careers, born two weeks apart, both having endured their share of struggles. "It hit me really at the U.S. Open that if youre not willing to experience the heartache and heartbreak of losing a major, then you cant really truly play your best stuff and be free enough in the moment to get it done," Rose said. "If youre kind of apprehensive to what it might feel like to lose, I think for me thats just what struck me. I was good with the fact that you just have to put yourself in that moment time and time again, and be willing to just keep knocking down the door. "Thats kind of what I learned as well from Adam." Woods cant relate to any of this, of course. He won his first major as a pro with a record performance at the Masters. He had the career Grand Slam when he was 24. He was on his way to a calendar Grand Slam in 2002 when Muirfield and some fickle weather stopped him. But he is seeing more players emerge to challenge him -- McIlroy the last two years, Scott and Rose this year. During the 12 years that it took Woods to win 14 majors, only three players who won majors were younger than Woods -- Ben Curtis in the 2003 British Open, Geoff Ogilvy in the 2006 U.S. Open and Trevor Immelman in the 2008 Masters. Since his last major in the 2008 U.S. Open, there have been 12 players younger than Woods who won majors, including six of the last seven. This is as deep and well-rounded as golf has been in years. And Woods isnt getting any younger. "If you look at most golfers, their prime years are usually in their 30s," Woods said. "It takes a while to learn how to win at this level and learn how to do it consistently. I think that youve got to learn what you can and cant do. Theres so much to learn out there, and I think that generally you see some of the guys dont mature into their games until their 30s." That doesnt make this major any easier to predict. Even so, Muirfield has a way of bringing out the best. Dating to World War II, the seven players who won a British Open at Muirfield are all in the World Golf Hall of Fame. 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MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Marcus Cox, Taylor Lamb and the Appalachian State kicker came through again in the Camellia Bowl.Cox rushed for 143 yards and a touchdown, Lamb ran for 126 yards and Michael Rubino kicked the go-ahead 39-yard field goal to lift the Mountaineers to a 31-28 victory over Toledo on Saturday night.The Mountaineers (10-3) won the bowl in Alabamas capital city on a late field goal for the second straight year, this one coming with 5:14 left.Were getting used to this Camellia Bowl trophy right here, said Satterfield, adding that it rode next to him on the return flight last year and probably would again.We have so much fight and so much integrity in our football team. They do things right on and off the field. You cant win close games like this if you dont do things right on and off the field.The Mountaineers got a couple of fourth-quarter reprieves after failing on a fake field goal.Cox became the ninth FBS player with four 1,000-yard seasons and the 22nd to top 5,000 in his career. Game MVP Lamb passed for 119 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score and some key third- and fourth-down conversions.Kareem Hunt covered 42 yards on four straight rushes to propel Toledo (9-4) down the field after the field goal. Damion Jones-Moore was stopped on third down.Toledo took a delay of game penalty to line up the potential tying kick. Jameson Vest pushed his 30-yard field goal attempt wide right with 1:48 remaining.If we had to go out and do it again, Id kick the field goal again, first-year Rockets coach Jason Candle said. I trust in our kicker and I trust in our protection. That was not the reason why we lost the game.Each of the first three Camellia Bowls have gone down to the final minutes, decided by a combined 10 points.Rubino, a freshman, opened the season with two missed field goals and a missed extra point attempt in an overtime loss to Tennessee. He finished in much better fashion.Hes coome a long way, Satterfield said.ddddddddddddhe teams traded a pair of touchdowns each an 8-minute span of the third quarter, forging a deadlock heading into the fourth.The Mountaineers converted two fourth-down plays to jump ahead the first time, including Lambs 13-yard run off a play fake to Cox.All 11 guys on defense went to Marcus, Lamb said. I just went around the edge and there was nobody in sight.They also got a 94-yard kick return down the right sideline by freshman Darrynton Evans, who skipped away from the grasp of one final diving defender.Toledo answered with Thompsons 4-yard touchdown catch and a 1-yard plunge by Hunt. Woodside set up the second touchdown with a 58-yard bomb to Thompson.This senior class had a storied career, Candle said. Guys like (senior safety) DeJuan Rogers have no reason to hang their head.On the Mountaineers fake, holder Bentlee Critchers pass to Collin Reed fell incomplete.THE TAKEAWAYToledo: Logan Woodside completed 18 of 26 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns. He came in leading the nation with 42 TD passes. Hunt broke ChesterTaylors school career rushing mark.Appalachian State: Gained 297 rushing yards. Held Toledo, which came in averaging 529 yards, to 374 total yardsPOLL IMPLICATIONSAppalachian State reached 10 wins, at least making a case to finish in the rankings.UP NEXTToledo loses five starters on each side of the ball, including Hunt. But the potent passing duo of Woodside and Thompson will both be seniors next season. Opens 2017 season at home against Elon Phoenix on Aug. 31.Appalachian State must replace Cox, but gets back Lamb and has a number of underclassmen returning who are either starters or backups. Opens at Georgia on Sept. 2.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25China NFL JerseysStitched JerseysJerseys From ChinaCheap Jerseys ChinaJerseys NFL ChinaJerseys NFL CheapCheap NFL Jerseys Authentic ' ' '